The cost of sterilization/disinfection in the U.S. is a multi-billion dollar per year industry. The capital cost of the sterilization/disinfection equipment and/or the chemicals used in sterilization/disinfection is in the hundreds of millions of dollars. All institutions and businesses that generate and handle this category of infectious waste must provide safe effective and inexpensive disposal of the infectious waste. In recent years there has been increasing concern over the disposal of infectious waste. The two principle methodologies for the disposal of this infectious waste are by (a) physical methods such as steam or dry heat, UV lamps, infrared radiation, microwaves, gamma radiation and membrane filtration; and (b) chemical sterilants and disinfectants such as halogen compounds, non-halogen chemical germicides (i.e., alcohols, phenolic compounds, quaternary ammonium compounds, hydrogen peroxide, aldehydes, and ethylene oxide gas).
The physical methods that involve heat and/or pressure systems have the following problems: a) maintenance and quality control, b) packing is critical to performance, c) time consuming, d) potential volatile hazardous organic emissions, and some equipment is heat sensitive. In the case of the use of incinerators there is the problem of transportation and the emissions of volatile hazardous organics.
Disinfectants may be effective against bacteria but not against viruses or fungi. There are differences in effectiveness between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria and sometimes even between strains of the same species. Bacterial spores are more resistant then the vegetative form. Disinfectants have differing effects on various types of viruses such as those with lipid coatings compared to non-enveloped, non-lipid-contained viruses. Since no one chemical sterilants or disinfectants is effective for all sterilization or disinfection purposes there is a significant need for improved methods of handling infectious wastes.
The MEO process in this patent provides an apparatus and process that destroys all microbial materials on instruments, equipment, glassware, utensils, and materials at the facility that generates the infectious waste in an environment of ambient atmospheric pressure and at temperatures less then 100° C. The MEO process sterilizes and/or disinfects medical and veterinary instruments, equipment, glassware, utensils, and materials so that they can be used again. In the case of equipment that cannot stand heat or is in anyway not suitable for common sterilization techniques such as dialyzers, the MEO process and apparatus offer a new and unique approach to sterilization and/or disinfection.